View source for SS Alaska (1881)

{{other ships|USS Alaska}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin
}} 
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = Guion Line ocean liner SS Alaska (1881) photographed sometime in the 1890's..tif
| Ship caption = SS ''Alaska'' under steam
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship country = [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
| Ship flag = [[Image:Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|60px]]
| Ship name = SS ''Alaska''
| Ship operator = [[File:Guion Line house flag.svg|border|20px]] Guion Line
| Ship ordered = 
| Ship builder = John Elder & Company, in [[Govan]], [[Scotland]]
| Ship yard number = 
| Ship laid down = 
| Ship launched = 15 July 1881
| Ship renamed = ''Magallanes'' (1897)
| Ship completed = 
| Ship acquired = 
| Ship in service = 
| Ship out of service = 
| Ship fate = Broken up 1902
| Ship notes = 4 mast and 2 funnel
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship class = Steam passenger [[ocean liner]]
| Ship tonnage = {{GRT|6,932|disp=long}}
| Ship displacement = 
| Ship length = {{convert|526|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|50.5|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship height = 
| Ship draught = 
| Ship draft = 
| Ship ice class = 
| Ship sail plan = 
| Ship propulsion = Single screw
| Ship speed = 16 knots
| Ship capacity = Approximately 350 saloon and 1000 steerage passengers
| Ship crew = 
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}

'''SS ''Alaska''''' was a record breaking British passenger liner that won the [[Blue Riband]] for the [[Guion Line]] as the fastest liner on the Atlantic in 1882.<ref name="mystic">{{cite web|url=http://library.mysticseaport.org/immigration/steamshipDetail.cfm?Expr1=Alaska1881|title=Immigration Vessels|publisher=Mystic Seaport|access-date=31 August 2013|quote=Won Atlantic Blue Ribbon in April 1882 for a record Atlantic crossing of 7 days, 6 hours, 43 minutes. Laid up 1894. In 1897 renamed MAGALLANES, sailed as charter for Cia Trasatlatica. Sold for scrap 1899, but resold as a hulk. Broken up 1902.}}</ref>  She was a slightly larger and faster edition of Guion's [[SS Arizona|''Arizona'']] and in 1883 became the first liner to make the crossing to New York in under a week.  However, ''Alaska'' burned 250 tons of coal per day, as compared to ''Arizona's'' already high 135 tons.  Built by John Elder & Company of Glasgow, she carried 350 first class passengers and 1,000 steerage.<ref name=gibbs>{{cite book | last = Gibbs | first = Charles Robert Vernon | title = Passenger Liners of the Western Ocean: A Record of Atlantic Steam and Motor Passenger Vessels from 1838 to the Present Day | publisher = John De Graff | year = 1957 | pages = 205–206}}</ref>  Her passengers included Hugh Simpson Rodham: future grandfather of [[Hillary Clinton]], who travelled in steerage to America with his mother Bella and seven siblings as a toddler in October 1882.<ref>Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897. Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls. Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. National Archives at Washington, D.C.</ref>  As in the case of ''Arizona'', Stephen Guion also personally owned ''Alaska''.<ref name=times5>{{cite book | last = New York Times | title = Obituary: Stephen Baker Guion | date = December 20, 1885 }}</ref>

On her maiden voyage she arrived to New York in December 1881.<ref>''Scientific American'' Volume 61 Number 25 (December 1889)</ref>

''Alaska'' completed 100 voyages when Guion suspended sailings in 1894.<ref name=gibbs />  She proved difficult to sell and was finally chartered in 1897 by Cia.<ref name="mystic" /> Transatlanticia Espanola as a troop transport.  In 1899, ''Alaska'' was sold for scrap, but was resold to the Barrow shipyard where she was used as an accommodation hulk until broken up in 1902.<ref name=kludas>{{cite book | last = Kludas | first = Arnold | title = Record breakers of the North Atlantic, Blue Riband Liners 1838-1953 | location = London  | publisher = Chatham  | year =1999 }}</ref><ref name="mystic" />

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|rec}}
{{s-bef|before=[[SS Germanic (1875)|''Germanic'']]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Holder of the [[Blue Riband]] (Westbound record)|years=1882 – 1884}}
{{s-aft|after= [[SS Oregon (1883)|''Oregon'']]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[SS Arizona|''Arizona'']]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Blue Riband]] (Eastbound Record) |years=1882 – 1884}}
{{s-aft|after= [[SS Oregon (1883)|''Oregon'']]}}
{{end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alaska}}
[[Category:Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Victorian-era merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1881 ships]]